Bonds of a Family
by Geekery
Summary: Riley had thought life was back to normal. He was obscenely misinformed. Fate was too cruel and Ben was too curious for Riley to have a normal life. Not to mention that confounded lunchline girl. Was SHE ever annoying...
1. Prologue

Alright, I told you that I had a National Treasure piece in the works. This is the prologue--apparantly. I should have the first couple of chapters up soon.

Oh, and I don't own this. How can you be sure? There was no quirky girl for our favorite quirky side-kick. Darn those movie writers...

* * *

Prologue

April 1, 1924

Bert stood alone, by his prized possession, a superb 1924 Peirce-Arrow, cold and wet. The calming sounds of waves lapping against a shore did little but annoy him. He could not believe Al would do this. His brother had just died, today in fact, and he had called Bert up babbling something about business. Bert flipped his trench coat collar up to shield himself from the freezing wind and jammed his Fedora further onto his head, just incase the cops rolled by.

Suddenly, Bert heard footsteps, and heavy ones at that.

"That you, Bert?"

Thank God. "Yeah, Al it's me."

Al stepped forward and pulled Bert into a ferocious bear hug. Pulling away, Al spoke, "I just can't believe he's gone."

"I know." Bert murmured. Pushing his luck, he hesitantly continued. "Y'think, maybe, you'll quit what you been up to?"

"Hell no, Bert. I'm in too deep by now. 'Sides, it's fun." Al scoffed apologetically

"You got a wife and kid to worry about bro!" Bert pleaded fervently.

Al nodded. "That's what I come to talk to you about. Frank dyin' really shook me up; made me think. I realized some things. I gotta provide for my kid. Y'know, for when I'm gone. I'm stashin' my loot."

"In the vault?"

"No, I'll just give someone that crap and word'll get around somehow. It'll be a dead end." Al stopped for a moment, staring into the black beyond. He was jarred back to reality by a violent crack of thunder. "Anyway, those two hours I closed down, I made a decision. My loot is safe. I can't let the feds find it, so I made up some clues." Here he paused, smiling. "Actually, Ray made 'em up. Then I shot 'im."

Bert rolled his eyes as Al handed him an envelope. "You gotta give this to Sonny when the time is right. It'll help him get his dues."

"When will I-"

"Trust me, Bert, you'll know."

With that, Al disappeared into the night while Bert crumpled the envelope in his fist.

Only when it started to rain did he get back in his car. After sitting there staring through the sheet of rain of water cascading over his window shield for a while, he stuffed the letter in the back seat.

Out of sight, Out of mind.

* * *

Well, there it is. Out for all of fanfic-dom to see. I hope I haven't thoroughly bored you already. Also, I know it's short. The chapters are longer I promise.

Hey! Bonus points if you actually get who the two guys were and who they were talking about...unless I was painfully obvious. But I'll never know if I was if you don't let me know in review form...teehee, don't I feel silly.


	2. Cars and Letters

Chapter One: Cars and Letters

May 24, 2008

Riley stepped out of his car and surveyed the scene. He sighed contentedly. Car shows were wonderful things.

Having scoped out the area, he dug around in his passenger seat for his I.D. tag. This took some time, as Riley had forgotten he had thrown the tag into the trunk. Finally finding it after a brief onset of panic, he placed it on his rearview mirror. His stomach rumbled just as he closed his car door. What great timing.

"Time for some sustenance." He muttered to himself, setting out to find the concession stands, ignoring the other cars, no matter how cool, and their rich snobby owners on account of his 'crippling hunger'.

When he finally found the concessions, he groaned. They were packed. No line had fewer than fifteen people in it. With a grumble he went to stand in an exceedingly long line behind a gangly looking girl with a huge mane of unruly black hair.

For a while, Riley was occupied with the hugeness that was this girl's hair. She looked like she had gotten electrocuted. Heck, she looked like her head was eight sizes too big for her body.

After staring bug-eyed at the back of a stranger's head got to be boring, he proceeded to try to read the menu. Nachos sounded good. He stood on his toes to get a better look and, in the process, bumped the girl in front of him.

She whirled around. "Watch it!"

Taken aback by her fierceness, Riley could only stammer "You—watch it" meekly as she turned around, hearing nothing.

They waited in line and bough their own food with no other interaction, but the condiments table was another story altogether. Having ordered more than he could carry, but not wanting to admit it, Riley teetered over to the table, only to find the scary girl from before in his way. He rolled his eyes and began tapping his foot impatiently.

She tensed up immediately and turned her head slowly. "Yes?" she inquired in a low and deadly tone.

Riley matched her glare of doom with what he thought was one of his own. He merely succeeded in looking like he was going to vomit. Nevertheless, he spoke. "Would ya move over?"

She blinked. "I suppose" she answered slowly. She moved and Riley descended with his ridiculous pile of food muttering a disgruntled 'thanks' and began preparing the rubber-substitute for food to his liking.

All went well for about three seconds. The mustard packet Riley was holding refused to open. In a fit of anger he tore as hard as he could, sending a golden arch of mustard-y goodness right on scary girl's shoulder.

"The hell?!" came the shout of indignation.

Hastily, Riles grabbed for a napkin, knocking over the bucket of pickles as he went. Pickle brine went everywhere. Fed up, scary girl grabbed a packet of ketchup and squeezed. Ketchup flew all over Riley's face.

For a brief moment, neither party did anything. Then, Riley lost it.

"What was that for?!"

"You squirted me first!"

Riley stared. "Yeah—ON ACCIDENT!"

Flustered, the girl grabbed her cheeseburger and ran off, leaving Riley to clean up.

* * *

As Riley drew near his car, Ben began to laugh. "Was the concession stand too much for you?"

Riley's eyes narrowed. "No" He grumbled. "There was this girl—" Ben laughed harder. Riley waited, finally asking, "Are you done?" Smirking, Ben nodded. Riley gave a sigh of annoyance and continued. "Anyway. There was this scary teenage girl in front of me and at the condiment table we had a little—disagreement."

Riley, thinking the conversation was over, sat his food on the chair next to him, keeping hold of the nachos. Straightening up, he almost had a cheesy chip to his mouth when he caught sight of Ben's confused expression. "What?" he asked warily.

"You had a disagreement?"

Rolling his eyes, Riley gave in and explained why his person was covered in ketchup. A snort behind him at the close of his tale drew his attention to Abigail.

"You just don't have good people skills, do you?" she quipped, smirking.

Scowling, Riley turned his attention to the 10 month old girl in Abigail's arms. Picking up a soggy nacho, he offered it to her. "Hey, Squirt, want a nacho?"

Abigail pushed his hand away. "Riley, she's not even a year old yet."

Riley waved the pliable chip in front of Abigail's face. "Abs, she'll gum on it. It'll be fine." With that, Riley handed little Molly Pitcher Gates her first nacho. He grinned smugly as the little girl, affectionately known as 'Mop', gleefully began to nibble on the cheesy confection.

With nothing else to occupy their minds, Abigail and Riley realized that Ben had disappeared. Looking around, they spotted him at a car across the makeshift grassy aisle between the cars. They walked towards him and, upon realizing exactly what Ben was looking at, Riley rolled his eyes. Of course the history nut would be staring at an _old _car.

"This is amazing." Ben could be heard muttering excitedly. "I've never seen one of these operational before."

"Fascinating." Riley deadpanned, munching a nacho.

Ben shot him a look, but soldiered on. "No, seriously Riley. This car was made before 1930. Most cars of this make just don't run anymore. They couldn't even afford a blown starter."

Riley had to admit, Ben was right. This was a 1924 Peirce-Arrow. Car parts for this particular model just weren't manufactured anymore and to keep the car moving, the owner would have had to take the utmost care of the car.

He walked around to join Ben on the other side of the Arrow only to find the driver's door open and Ben gingerly stepping inside. Floored at the audacity of this loony toon, Riley did the only thing he could do. "Ben!" He shouted.

Ben paused, looking up at Riley expectantly.

Riley continued in a hushed tone. "This isn't your car—or mine!"

"I know." Replied Ben as if nothing were the least bit wrong.

Riley spazzed—just a little bit. "BEN! Why don't you understand the concept of _it's not yours_?!"

Abigail finally spoke up. "I have to agree with Riley on this one, Ben. You said yourself that whoever owns this car must take good care of it. They probably wouldn't take too kindly to your being in their car without permission."

Riley jumped at the opportunity. "See?" he pleaded, pointing to Abigail. "Even your crazy wife agrees with me. And you know what? I think Mop agrees with me too." On a roll, Riley stood behind Abigail, taking up little Mop's pudgy arms in his hands. Waving them around, he began to speak in a ridiculously high voice. "I sure do, daddy. Get out of the car! Uncle Riley knows what he's talking about."

Laughing, Ben gave in and stepped out of the car, taking his daughter from Abigail. "Well, Mop, I guess your Uncle Riley knows my weakness. He wins this time."

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Riley knew he could get on with his day, which meant gazing at other people's expensive vehicles and smiling smugly when those other people came to gaze at his own.

* * *

Long about 4:30 in the afternoon, Riley could be found snoozing by his car. He had had a great day. He'd seen some awesome cars, eaten a lunch that consisted of only junk food (his favorite kind), avoided scary lunch line girl, and successfully kept Ben from breaking any laws. Yep, great day.

"Hey, Riley, check this out!"

Until now. "Oh, no. What could it be? What could you have found to torture me with _now_, Ben?" He complained without opening his eyes.

"Lighten up, Riley. I found something." Ben explained, sitting down.

Grudgingly, Riley opened his eyes. "Of course you did." He sat up in his chair. "What is it?"

"A letter written by Al Capone."

Riley was instantly alert. "What?!"

Ben grinned. "Exactly! I think it might lead to his bootlegging money."

As quickly as his heart had quickened, Riley lost interest. "Um, Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"In case you lived in a hole for the past 15 years, they already found it. Remember? In 1986? Geraldo Rivera? He opened Al Capone's vault and found nothing but a beer bottle and a pair of shoes or something like that?"

As usual, Ben had no intention of listening to reason. "Yeah, yeah, I remember. I was somewhere around 18 when it happened. How old were you? Two?"

"…Five"

Ben gave Riley a look that said 'how much older than you am I?' He shook his head. "Anyway, the vault was obviously a ruse."

At a loss, Riley put his head in his hands. "Ben," his muffled voice pleaded, "You've already gone on your big treasure hunt for life. You don't need another one, especially one that will dead end. I mean," he raised his head, "if it's about money, then I think you screwed yourself over, Ben. They offered you ten percent."

Ben shot him an annoyed look. "Will you drop that? Please? Besides you called finder's fee on this one."

Riley paused. And then it hit him. "Where did you get that envelope?"

"Nowhere"

"Ben."

"I found it."

"Found it _where_?"

"In a car."

"Please say you found it in my car."

"Actually, I found it in that 20s car across the way."

Riley was completely dumbfounded—for about five seconds. "You know what? No," He stated, swiping the opened envelope from Ben's hand. "Apparently, Abigail can't leave you alone for two seconds or you'll break into someone's car." He continued, walking towards the Arrow. "I'm gonna put this back and we're gonna pretend that nothing ever happened. Ok?" He shot back over his shoulder. Ben didn't answer.

Riley opened the car door. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the upholstery of the back seat."

"Alright then." Riley muttered matter of factly. He leaned over the driver's seat and quickly spotted the gap in the leather.

"Uh, Riley?" Ben's voice floated into the car, sounding uneasy.

"Not now, Ben" he said loudly, reaching to stuff the letter safely back in it's place.

He stretched a little further and almost had it when—

"What are you doing?"

Riley froze, eyes as wide as saucers. Guiltily, he maneuvered his way out of the ancient vehicle. Upon seeing the owner of the car, Riley decided his day had taken a turn for the absolute worst. Scary lunch line girl.

* * *

Ok, guys. If you're re-reading this, then I fixed the ages. If you're just joining me, then pay no attention to the girl behind the keyboard.


	3. Convincing

Sorry if this chapter moves kinds slow. I'm trying to make the characters and situations as real as possible.

* * *

Chapter 2: Convincing

"Well?! What were you doing in my car?!?"

Yep, Riley's day had done a complete 180 from amazing to atrocious. He sighed. "My friend over there was admiring your car and—

"I think I found something!"

The girl looked back and forth between the two men. One, her nemesis from the concession stand, looked extremely uncomfortable. The other, a bit older, looked like Christmas had come early. She decided to humor him. "Something like what?"

"A letter."

The girl cocked an eyebrow skeptically. "A letter?"

"Yes. It's quite amazing actually. It's a letter from Al Capone to his son. It tells how to find his millions."

The girl put her hands on her hips. "Let me get this straight. You broke into my car, which has been in my family for generations and is hence very valuable, and found a letter from Al Capone to his son. Why should I believe you?"

"You shouldn't!" Riley answered desperately.

Ben seemed to have an answer for everything, not to mention a knack for ignoring Riley. "Well, I don't know if you remember that news story about four years ago:about the huge treasure and its finders?"

A look of recognition dawned upon the girl's face. "Oh, yeah! Ben something. Ben…"

Ben stuck his hand out. "Gates—pleased to meet you."

"Adrian Cooper," the girl replied with a smile, shaking Ben's hand. Then she turned to Riley with a look of pure disdain. "And you are?"

"Poole, Riley Poole," he forced out politely, hand extended.

"Oh, yeah. The sidekick," she acknowledged condescendingly, completely ignoring his outstretched hand and turned back to Ben.

Riley was appalled. He had never been referred to as a 'sidekick' before. Not even the most pompous of news broadcasters had called him that. He decided right then and there that he hated the snot nosed brat. She flipped her hair in an annoyingly attractive way and proceeded to talk to Ben, making Riley's ill natured grumblings increase.

"I still don't understand," she was saying when Riley tuned back in. "How come my family never saw it if it's been there this whole time?"

"It's nothing really, you just have to know where to look." He led Adrian off to go to inspect the car further leaving Riley to his own devices; which meant he went back to his own car to sulk.

"Well, Molly's all changed. Did I miss anything?"

Without turning around, Riley droned, "Nothing except your loony husband breaking into a car."

"What?! He did not—I told him—where is he?"

Riley pointed. "Over there"

After dumping the newly fresh Molly into Riley's lap, Abigail went after her husband.

Riley watched her and expression of resignation on his face. He turned Molly to face him. "Great. Another one lost to the dark side. You just watch. By this time tomorrow, your mommy and daddy will be dragging me all over the northeast, searching for a non-existent treasure."

"Da-da!" the young child squealed gleefully.

"Yeah, Da-da. If I'm lucky, we'll leave little miss sunshine britches out of it." The toddler let out a surprisingly strong belly laugh. Riley couldn't help but grin. "At least someone thinks I'm funny."

* * *

After Molly went to sleep on his shoulder, leaving Riley with nothing to do, he ambled over to where it appeared Ben and Adrian were having a heated discussion.

"I just don't think I can."

"But you have to. This is huge!"

"I'm not so sure it is. I mean, we've read the letter 50 times and it never gives us a specific place. How do you know this is for real?"

"You just have to trust us." Abigail piped up.

Sensing what was happening, Riley tapped Ben on the shoulder, "Uh, Ben? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Curious, Ben complied. "What?"

Riley shifted the sleeping girl to his other shoulder. "Are you seriously trying to get this kid to go with us?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ben, she's, like, sixteen!"

"Try twenty-five"

Riley blinked. "What?"

"Did I stutter?"

"No, but she loo—

"Apparently, you didn't get a look at her face."

Riley's eyes shot over to Adrian. Sure enough, on closer inspection, she looked about 25. "Do we _have_ to take her?"

"Yes." Ben replied, quickly walking away.

Riley sighed, eyes rolling heavenward, before going to join the quarrelling threesome. Abigail appeared to be wearing Adrian down.

"Do you have family?"

Adrian paused, avoiding eye contact.

Abigail seized on what promised to be a golden opportunity. "Do you have any idea how much money Al Capone stored up?"

"Yeah." Adrian muttered, thinking it through.

Abigail pressed further. "You could buy so many nice things for them. Christmas would be covered for years. Not to mention a pretty penny for yourself."

After one of the most tense thirty seconds of his life, Riley's fate was sealed by Adrian's reluctant acquiescence—"I guess I'll go." Riley closed his eyes and let his head drop. "No…" he moaned quietly.

"What was that, sidekick?"

Not quietly enough. "Nothing."

Adrian shot him a nasty look. "Sure," she continued, facing Ben. " I suppose he'll tag along, right? I mean, we've got a leading man and his leading lady, a damsel in distress," she paused, motioning to herself before going in for the kill. "Someone's gotta be the sidekick."

If Riley had not been hindered by sleeping deadweight, he would have tackled this stuck up little prig to the ground.

Ben, sensing the resentment between the twenty-something's, decided to settle the issue—for now. "Y'know, the damsel in distress usually hooks up with the quirky sidekick."

Riley didn't know whether to laugh or gag, while Adrian merely looked insulted.

Ben smiled pleasantly. "Well, now that that's settled, how does Monday sound to everyone?"

Adrian came back to life. "Say what?"

"Well, we'll need to have a day to pack and figure out the clue. It's already coming up on 7:00, so that rules out tomorrow. It'll have to be Monday."

Riley thought for a moment. "Yeah, I don't have anything better to do with my life. Monday it is."

All eyes turned to Adrian, who looked rather taken aback. "You're all nutty! I mean, yeah, I said I'd go, but—don't we need to make preparations first? Don't you people have jobs? I mean, I'm gonna have to see my family—

"Ever heard of a cell phone?" Riley interrupted.

Adrian glowered at him before replying, "Yeah, I heard a cell phones."

Riley grinned impishly.

Ben stepped in hurriedly—Adrian was looking murderous. "To answer your question, yes we have jobs. We'll deal with those tomorrow. Is that a problem for you?"

Adrian rolled her eyes uncomfortably. "Not really. I'll just call the boys down at the shop and tell 'em what's goin' on."

Riley only briefly wondered what 'shop' she was talking about before Molly began to squirm and cry. "And that's all the time we have for today folks. Abigail, your kid's awake."

As Abigail took the whimpering child from Riley, Ben resumed his conversation with Adrian. "Well, let me just give you directions to our house and you can get there…say 9:00? Now, which hotel are you staying at?"

"Um…I'm not?"

"Beg y'pardon?"

"I'm _not_ staying at a hotel."

Ben looked confused for a moment. "No hotel."

"No."

Ben shrugged. "Well, why don't you stay with us?"

"What? _No_." Riley pleaded adamantly. "N-n-n-n-no. She cannot stay with us—you guys." Riley hastily corrected himself.

Ben's expression tightened. "And why not, pray tell?"

"Well—bec—she—called—me a sidekick." Riley finished lamely. Cue the awkward pause.

After staring at Riley for a moment, Ben turned back to Adrian. "Please ignore the adolescent."

Adrian replied with a snotty, "Can do."

Riley looked mortally offended. He was ignored.

Ben continued. "I'll just give you directions to my place and you can follow Riley (What?!?). It's not too hard to find."

Adrian looked skeptical. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Too right you wouldn't"

"Shut up, Riley. You wouldn't be intruding Miss. Our house is fairly large. We'll hardly know you're there. I just hate to see you…sleep in your car, or something."

Adrian bit her lip, thinking. It was her last chance to turn back. All that money was just so—"Done. I'll follow Skippy, here."

Riley could only glower at a rather unfortunate child across the way. Ben looked like Christians had come early—again. "Great! Here are my directions…" He trailed off, sketching quick directions onto a scrap of paper. Done he handed it to Adrian. "Just in case you lose Riley."

He turned to Riley. "Don't lose her on purpose."

"Perish the thought," Riley droned.

* * *

BAHAHA!! I love messing with Riley's head! Yeah, so I was kind of discouraged, then I came back and read my reviews and updated this chapter immediately! Put two and two together, people...

The next chapter is coming along. I had a bit of a block, but I chipped it away into a wonderful sculpture. It should move slightly faster, and will have some ACTION!


	4. Figuring it all out

OMIGOSH GUYS I AM SO SORRY!!! Ok, I **lost the story**. I keep it in this little notebook for easy access, and the notebook dissappeared! It was seriously gone for, like, 3 months or something obscene like that. I didn't know what to do! Then, out of nowhere, someone I know found it and gave it back to me! I rejoiced like there was no tomorrow!

Anyway, this is a chapter of exposition, so I'm sorry if it's a little slow. Hopefully, I spiced it up with enough humor that you won't fall asleep but once. The really good news about my notebook's ill fated attempt for freedom is that I actually have almost the whole next chapter done. I really just have to edit the thing and figure out a way to wrap it up. It's much more exciting than this chapter: lots of GUNS!

GO...READ NOW!!

* * *

Adrian started up her car. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind she didn't kow which to tackle first. As Riley's red sports car began to pull away, Adrian had the distinct feeling that she would have quite a while to think in the solitude of her car.

She was still reeling from how quickly it had happened. No sooner did she escape from the clutches of the men she feared most than she found herself in the company of Ben Gates and his pesky little side-kick. It was all so surreal. It had taken them 2 hours to convince her to go gallivanting across the country in search of Al Capone's bootlegging millions—possibly billions. It was the answer to all her problems. Hopefully.

There was the issue of her family. There were a lot of them and if certain members had even an inkling of what she was doing, very bad things would happen. She could almost hear her cousin harping on about _"Family! It's the most important thing in this life. You don't go against your family. Everything you do is for your family."_ Adrian shuddered. If her cousin ever got word—

It suddenly occurred to Adrian that Riley had exited too early. She checked the directions frantically and, sure enough, Riley had taken her off course. She tailed him closely for about half an hour before he pulled into the driveway of a small, but stylish, house. It had enough land for a single 26 year old, but Adrian doubted he tended to it himself…it was too clean.

She killed the engine and got out of her car, leaning on her open door. "Where are we, Skippy?"

Riley shot her a withering look before answering, "My house. I had to get clothes."

"Did you forget I was following you?"

"You have directions." Riley quipped, turning to go inside. "Besides, I won't take long."

Adrian sighed and closed her car door, following Riley inside. She busied herself with switching labels on food canisters and writing a nasty note on the wall while Riley ran around the house. It didn't take long for him to fill up a small suitcase and a duffel bag.

She eyed the bulging bags incredulously. "How long are we going to be gone?"

"You never know with Ben, so it's best to be prepared."

Adrian sighed, blowing the hair out of her face. "Great. I was planning on something like three days."

"I'm surprised. You don't look like the kind of girl who would care what she looks like—or smells like." Riley drawled smarmily.

Adrian's jaw dropped slightly. Pleased with himself, Riley walked out the door, holding it open in an exaggerated gesture. She brushed past, shoving his head hard into the brick wall behind him. Eyes watering, Riley wisely chose to let it be for now.

The fuming two got into their respective cars and engines roared to life. As Adrian backed up, she was seething. How dare he? She had only known this guy for half a day and already she despised him. He was quite possibly _the_ most irritatingly twitchy man she'd ever met. He walked funny too.

* * *

Tony couldn't believe it. That little brat had actually gone with those—those—those cheats! After all they'd discussed today. They had made a _plan_. He sent her off to het the letter and she never came back. Naturally, he'd followed, only to hear the little slut making arrangements with those treasure hunters. Those sons o' bitches were gonna get HIS money. The money he'd spent _years_ searching for. He just couldn't believe it.

He sighed and called for his brother. "Robbie!"

"Yeah, Tony?"

"Round up som o' de boys. We're payin' a little visit to Adrian and her new friends tonight."

* * *

Adrian had thought the _outside _of the Gates' household was amazing. It didn't hold a candle to the _inside._ Priceless artifacts were placed in rooms alongside random technology—true evidence that Riley practically lived there. The entire house was a strange blend of antique and modern—with a few baby toys thrown into the mix for good measure.

"Ben! Abigail! We're here!" Riley shouted, making his way towards a staircase.

Abigail strode in from the kitchen. "Glad you finally made it. Riley, would you show Adrian to her room?"

Riley rolled his eyes, but asked anyway. "Does it matter which one?"

"No." Abigail answered before turning to Adrian. "Just follow him and meet Ben and me in the library when you're all set up."

Adrian glanced down at her rather deflated bag and replied drily, "We won't be long."

Seeing that Riley would not wait up, Adrian charged up the stairs. She reached the second floor to find Riley emerging from a room bag-less. With as serious a face as he could muster, he motioned that she should follow him.

"All the rooms on this floor are taken, you have to sleep upstairs." He stated matter-of-factly.

Had she known Riley better, Adrian would have noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes.

* * *

After depositing her miniscule amount of luggage upstairs, Adrian followed Riley to the library, which was impressive in an of itself. Ben and Abigail stopped talking as they walked in.

"Oh, good," Ben began, "You're here. The first thing we need to do is figure out what exactly the letter means and then we can eat."

Riley groaned. "Can't we eat first? My stomach is going to eat itself!"

"You'll live" came the unconcerned reply.

Dejected, Riley flopped into a seat. Adrian situated herself cross-legged on the tabletop between Ben and Riley. There was a brief, confused pause before Ben pulled the letter out of his pocket. He carefully extracted the yellow brittle paper out of the likewise envelope. With a flourish that made Riley and Abigail smile, he began to read:

_ 4/1/24_

_Sony-_

_Hey kiddo. If you're reading this, I'm long gone and your uncle Bert finally got of his lazy ass and handed it to you. By this time you also __probly__ figured out what your old man was a part of. Sorry about that. It was fun while it lasted. In case word hasn't gotten out yet, I stashed my loot. _(Riley snorted. Adrian shot him a nasty look as Ben continued.) _If you hear anything about a vault, forget about it. I made that part up. _(Ben read this part with a triumphant smirk aimed at Riley.) _I put it somewhere else, but I can't tell you where in this letter on account of the possibility of it getting into the wrong hands. The only thing I can tell you is to make your way to the place where I first did business with Uncle Frankie. Go to Headquarters. You know the room. There'll be a map. The next place you go is marked with a big __ol__ star. Behind Mister Ben is a note with further instructions. Spend your inheritance wisely, kiddo._

_ -Pops_

"Did he really sign it Pops?" Riley inquired immediately.

Ben handed him the note. "See for yourself." He paused before continuing. "Make your way to the place I first did business with Uncle Frankie."

"Who's Uncle Frankie?" Abigail inquired. Ben shrugged.

Riley rolled his eyes. "Well I guess I _could_ look him up on the internet." He said, standing up.

Ben paid him no mind. "Unless you count Frankie Yale. He was Capone's first business associate."

Riley flopped back down in his seat. "Never mind"

"Did you say Yale?" Adrian asked tensely.

Ben nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Adrian shrugged. "I just know a Yale, that's all."

Riley gave Adrian a strange look before turning his attention to Ben. "So, if this Frankie Yale guy is the 'Uncle Frankie' from the letter, where does that take us?"

Ben thought for a moment. "Somewhere in Illinois I'm sure, but I don't know the exact place."

Riley looked dumbfounded. "Ben. This is something historical. Why don't you know it?"

Ben shrugged. "It didn't have anything to do with the Knights Templar."

An expression came over Riley's face akin to a five year old who has just found out the horrible truth about Santa.

Ignoring Riley's small spaz attack, Ben and Abigail turned to Adrian, who was closely examining the letter Riley had let flutter to the table.

"Well," Abigail began, "what do you think, Adrian?"

"I don't know why you people keep asking _me_ what to do." She replied, looking up from the letter. "Just get Skippy to look it up on the internet." She finished matter-of-factly.

After shooting daggers at Adrian for a moment, Riley angrily left the library to retrieve his laptop. He returned to find a very smug Adrian in his chair. Slightly peeved, but taking solace in the fact that she would be unbearably hot tonight, he simply placed his laptop on the table and stood at the end of said table.

In a matter of minutes, Riley had looked up Al Capone's life story on Google. "Here it is." He said. Ben and Adrian leaned in. He continued. "It looks like we need to go to the Lexington Hotel in Cicero, Illinois."

Ben smiled. "That's great, Riley. Get directions and we'll head out Monday."

Smiling at the praise, Riley made to close his laptop, but Adrian stopped him.

"You said _Cicero_, Illinois?"

"Yeaaaaah…" Riley replied slowly with a questioning tone.

Adrian elaborated only slightly. "I have family there." She said, almost to herself. Abruptly, she straightened up and left the library. Riley watched her leave, utterly bewildered.

* * *

Adrian climbed the stairs to her room, barely paying attention to where she was going. This was proving to be a strangely coincidental expedition. First that weird run in with Tony, now this connection with Cicero—"Oh my _GOD_!!!" she shouted out of her reverie. "It's _sweltering _up here!"

One floor below, Riley smiled to himself as he lay between his cool sheets working on his laptop.

* * *

Sa-weet!! The fact that you made it through the slowness that is this chapter gives me hope. I promise the next chapter will be a little more rivetting.

And please...review...I need feedback.


	5. The WHAT?

Ok, guys, here's the next chapter. I _tried_ to make it really exciting…I hope it worked. I'm sorry it took so long. is ashamed

* * *

Riley was jolted out of his sleep, but he didn't know why. Groggily, he glanced at the clock. 2:17, huh… His stomach growled rather fiercely. Deciding he may as well, he got up and ambled his way to the door. No sooner had he opened the door than he heard a tinkling of glass. Immediately, he tensed up, peering down the stairs.

"Hey"

"GEEEEZE!"

"Shhh!" Adrian's hand flew over his mouth. "Are you _trying_ to get us killed?" she whispered angrily, releasing him from her grip.

"Hey, _you're_ the one that snuck up on _me_." Riley replied just as angrily. "Anyway, who's to say there's someone downstairs that'll kill us?"

The cracking of a door downstairs signaled otherwise.

Adrian gave Riley a blank look. "Are you serious?"

Beaten, Riley shrugged. They crept towards the top of the stairs and craned their necks over the banister.

"I don't see anything, do you?" Adrian inquired.

Riley shook his head. "No."

They made their way downstairs, Riley pointing out the creaky steps along the way. Upon reaching the bottom, they paused.

"The noise came from the kitchen." Riley whispered matter-of-factly and the two began walking in that general direction.

Adrian's heart was pounding in her ears. They couldn't have found her could they? "Riley…"

Bullets flew through the air unexpectedly, causing Adrian's mind to go on the fritz. When she re-engaged her brain, she found herself on the floor without knowing how she got there. She attempted to get up only to find Riley keeping her down.

"Wait!" he shouted authoritatively. Still in shock, Adrian could only nod in compliance.

As the shower of bullets began to slow, Riley heaved himself up onto his hands and knees, motioning for Adrian to follow. They hastily crawled for cover behind the nearest piece of furniture. Once behind a vintage leather couch, they sat up, panting like a pair of winded elephants.

Riley turned to Adrian, "We've got to get to Ben and Abigail." She nodded and waited for his signal; he seemed to be better at this than she was.

Just as suddenly as they started, the bullets came to a halt. A low voice began to resonate within the room. "Where'd they go?"

At this, Riley began to crawl for the hallway leading to Ben and Abigail's room.

The men in the living room kept talking amongst themselves. "I coulda' sworn there were two of 'em standin' right in the middle of the room."

"Well, they didn't just disappear."

"Look for 'em."

Luckily, Adrian and Riley had made it into a dark corner brimming with potted plants and small potted trees. They were hidden—for now.

Riley peeked through the foliage to see when the best time to bolt for the hallway would be. "Alright, when I say, we're gonna book it-"

Adrian grabbed his arm, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Riley!" she whispered pitifully, "I can't! I…" she broke off, fear overtaking her.

Riley looked at her incredulously. "But—if we get to Ben, he'll know what to do!"

The look in Adrian's face said all it needed to. Riley looked around wildly. Quickly, he spotted a revolutionary musket on display on the wall above their heads. He pointed up to it. "I've got to get to Ben. Watch them and grab the musket when it's safe. Use it to…club them or something."

She nodded, wide eyed with fear, and Riley peeked back out through the leaves. Seeing his chance, he zipped around the corner, stood up, and ran to Ben's room as quietly as he could manage.

Not too far down the hallway, he ran into Ben. After a hurried discussion, they relayed information that Abigail had called 911, was getting the baby, and that Adrian was still in the living room.

As if on cue, a thick voice from the living room asked "What was that?"

Adrian had been spotted.

The two men sped off down the hall, Riley towards Adrian's hiding spot, and Ben around the long way.

Riley paused just on the other side of the wall where Adrian was hiding, quivering in fear no doubt. Many pairs of heavy footsteps were slowly coming closer and closer. Riley racked his brain for something to do; to take at least one or two of the intruders' attention off of Adrian. There was only one option his reeling brain could think of. Cursing silently, he leapt around the corner and crawled frantically to get behind the corresponding vintage loveseat amid a volley of bullets. Crouching, he ran to the large opening of the living room and threw himself against the wall on the side of the front door. While he was fighting with the much less menacing coat rack, he heard a grunt and a thud. Adrian must have hit one of them with the musket.

Turning to his left, he saw Ben peering around the corner, a Napoleon-esque sword in his hand. A scream that could only belong to Adrian jolted the two friends into action. Ben rounded his corner waving his sword around ridiculously. He was saved from total humiliation by Riley, who rounded his corner bearing the stripped coat rack. The three conscious intruders were thrown so off guard by the odd "weapon" that they paused, giving Adrian just enough time to jump up and belt another one in the head. It was now two to three.

The two vandals glanced at each other, smirked and cocked their guns. Adrian, Riley and Ben took off in all different directions. Riley faintly saw Adrian bolt into the kitchen as he dove under the dining room table. Looking down the length of the room, he saw the fireplace.

Where there's a fire_place_, there's a fire _poker_.

He crawled the length of the table, shot out, grabbed the heavy iron poker and scrambled back under the table, covered by tablecloth. The loud clatter as the rest of the fire accessories tumbled to the floor made him cringe. Oops.

A resounding BONG turned Riley's grimace to a smirk. Adrian had found Abigail's favorite frying pan. He didn't have time to dwell on that sweet mental picture for long. His very own brute was currently searching the dining room. He waited until the best moment and…

He brought the poker down on the galoot's foot with a satisfying crack and bolted through the service door into the kitchen while the huge man cried like a baby. He looked around the kitchen wildly and found Adrian frozen, iron skillet in hand, over the crook she had taken down. He ran over, grabbed her arm and practically dragged her across the kitchen towards the hallway Ben had disappeared into.

No sooner did they meet Ben coming up from the bunker-like cellar to get them than the faint sound of sirens heralded their deliverance. Breathing sighs of relief, the three comrades slipped into the door to wait until it was finally safe in the house.

The group of scared civilians waited on the stairs behind the locked door to the cellar for what felt like an eternity until they heard a lone officer's voice "Mr. and Mrs. Gates? Are you alright?"

Sighing in relief, Ben unlocked the door and opened it a crack "We're all over here, safe and sound." He closed the door back and opened it again when a gentle knock signaled someone was on the other side. Ben opened the door fully to find a police officer standing patiently in the hallway. Ben smiled and motioned for the others to come out.

Riley waited for Abigail to ascend the stairs with a whimpering Molly in her arms, before turning to Adrian, who had become very quiet after entering the basement. He looked down at her huddled figure with a smile; hey, the worst was over, right? The smile left his face upon further inspection of Adrian's small frame. She had drawn up into herself as much as she could and looked a little bit like a mental patient. Her eyes had gone all glassy and she was shaking ever so slightly.

Cautiously, Riley descended the few steps that separated them and crouched down next to her. In a very unsure tone, he said her name. "Adrian?"

Startled out of her daze, Adrian jumped, almost toppling off of the stairs onto the concrete below. Luckily, Riley shot his hand out and grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, whoa! Adrian, it's me, Riley! Y'know…" he searched for something to say to the trembling woman. "Skippy?"

Adrian's eyes focused on Riley's face and she stopped shivering long enough to croak out "The Sidekick."

Riley rolled his eyes. "Yeah, the Sidekick" He gingerly helped her stand up and led her out of the cellar and into the demolished living room.

It was only in the clear lighting of the living room that he could see Adrian properly. She was in naught but her underwear. All of her tanned olive skin was exposed with the exception of what was covered by a black sports bra and very small black 'boxers' with bright yellow smiley faces all over them. Her wild mane of hair had been pulled up into a sloppy bun that had been further mussed in the fray.

Feeling extremely guilty (not to mention annoyed) for being attracted to her when she was so obviously in an enormous amount of stress, Riley led her to the couch and handed her a blanket. "Here."

She took the blanket and gave him a confused look.

He gestured to her scantily clad body while looking steadfastly at the floor. "So you can cover up."

She appeared to have forgotten she was clothed in only her skivvies; when she looked down at her body, she hastily unfolded the blanket and fully covered herself, blushing furiously.

When she was decent, Riley looked into her eyes. "You alright?"

She nodded mutely.

Riley studied her face for a moment longer before saying, "Ok, I'm going to go find Ben and Abigail. You stay here." He backed away slowly, then jogged into the kitchen.

Ben and the officers stopped talking upon his arrival. Ben looked at Riley with concern. "How's Adrian?"

Riley shook his head. "Not so good. She hasn't really said anything yet." He turned to the officer with a notepad. "I don't think she'll be able to give a statement."

The officer nodded his understanding.

* * *

By the time the officers left and Abigail had gotten Molly back to sleep, it was past 5:00 Sunday morning. Adrian had not moved from her spot on the couch, though she _was_ more responsive. Ben was sitting in an overstuffed armchair, rubbing his temples methodically. Riley ambled in from the kitchen with coffee followed by Abigail. She hurried over to Ben, sitting on his lap. Riley flopped down onto the couch on the opposite side from Adrian. They were all silent for a while, thinking about the nights horrors.

Eventually, Ben broke the silence. "Why did they come? What were they after?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"I think I know." Adrian said unexpectedly, making everyone jump. With a sigh, she put her coffee down on the coffee table and wrapped the blanket Riley had given her tighter around herself. "I think it's time I come clean with you guys and then be on my way.

Curious, yet apprehensive, the other three adults leaned forward.

Adrian continued. "Those men that attacked your house tonight _were_ after something. They're slightly connected to the mafia."

"The WHAT?!" Riley interrupted, more than a little panicky.

Adrian shot him an angry look, but was far too spent to pick a fight. "The _ma-__fi__-a_. They're actually descended from Al Capone and his little friends. They grabbed me at the car show on my way back to my car and told me everything. Somehow, _my_ family got a hold of that letter and _they_ want it back."

When she finished the others were completely dumbfounded.

"Were you _ever_ planning on _telling_ us this?" Riley shot out angrily, shattering the silence.

Adrian's jaw tightened before she answered through clenched teeth, "I thought I had escaped them by going with _you_ people!"

Riley cocked an eyebrow, clearly not believing her.

"So you knew about the letter before we even told you." Ben stated, easing the tension with his matter-of-factness.

"Just barely." Adrian replied, tearing her murderous gaze from Riley's equally sour glare.

"What exactly did they want?" Abigail asked.

Adrian shrugged. "The same thing you guys wanted, but for some reason they wanted to drag me along. It was like they thought it directly concerned me. Not like you wanted; you wanted to take me along because you found the letter in my car. Their reasoning was different somehow. I just decided to go with you guys because I thought you seemed safer."

At this, Riley let out a laugh. He quickly became uncomfortable under the weighty stares of the other three and resumed his ingestion of coffee.

Adrian stared into space for a moment before standing up. "I guess I'd better be going."

"What?" Ben asked quickly, almost sending Abigail to the floor with the rapidity of his standing. "Why?"

"I would have thought that was obvious. I can't risk your lives anymore."

Ben walked closer to her. "Don't be ridiculous. We'll leave today and Abigail will take Molly and stay with my father." Abigail nodded emphatically; Ben continued. "It's not safe for you to leave us now." He leaned forward conspiratorially, "We have the FBI on our side."

Adrian looked at him long and hard, as if trying to see the future in his face. Eventually, she nodded. "Alright, but I have to take care of some things first. Do you have a garage?"

* * *

Riley walked into the Gates' shed (Shed; who was he kidding? It was a barn.) to see Adrian's legs sticking out from beneath her prized possession: a 1924 Pierce Arrow. He said her name apprehensively. "Adrian?" He saw her start, heard a klunk, then a very angry groan followed as she wriggled her way out from underneath the car.

She shot him a look of pure evil before standing up, clutching her forehead. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again."

"Well _sorry_, Miss Fancy-Pants." was Riley's pathetic retort.

Grumbling, Adrian marched over to the tool box and began rooting around. Two long, haphazard braids stuck out underneath a black beanie and hung down her back, which was, consequently, only covered by the same black sports' bra and oil stained overalls.

Shaking his head, Riley leaned against the door to the shed-barn. "May I ask what you're doing?"

She straightened up and turned to face him, one hand on her hip, the other holding a wrench. "If you think, for one moment, that I'm taking my baby on this wild goose chase, you deserve to have this wrench up your ass." She pondered this for a moment, then added, "You deserve that anyway, but—I'm nice."

Riley was not amused.

Adrian continued unabashed. "But I can't leave it here for people to steal, so I'm taking it apart."

Riley's brow furrowed in confusion. "Apart?"

Adrian went back to work. "Not totally. I'm just taking out the really important pieces so it's pointless to steal the car. I do it on a regular basis and the parts were due for an oil bath anyway."

Riley, thinking the girl was crazy, stared at her like she had just sprouted an extra arm. Adrian quickly became annoyed and asked, "What did you come in here for?"

"Ben's ready to leave." came Riley's monotone reply.

Adrian nodded. "Alright. I'll be down in a few."

* * *

Two hours later, Riley re-entered the shed-barn. "Adrian, seriously. We have to _leave_."

She paused for a moment and, though she wasn't facing him, Riley knew that Adrian's eyes had rolled back into her head in an expression of utmost annoyance. "This is the tenth time you've come up here, Skippy. All ten times I have told you how close I am to finishing. Is your memory that defective?"

Riley chose to ignore her last jibe in order to make one of his own. "You've been counting how many times I've been up here?" he smirked evilly. "Were the minutes in between my visits very painful for you? Did your heart break every time I left and then leap for—

"CAN IT!"

Still grinning like a child who's broken the vase and blamed it on the cat, Riley finished. "I'm sorry dear, I just don't see you that way."

He had to duck a flying wrench.

* * *

Adrian finally walked into the house to find Ben reading a book and Riley snoring on the couch. She checked her cell phone. _Crap_. They should have left two and a half hours ago. She cleared her throat and announced sheepishly, "I'm ready to go now."

Ben hopped up and threw a pillow at Riley, who snorted rather loudly. "Time to go, Riley."

"Her Highness is ready?" he mumbled groggily.

There was a brief flurry of activity in which Riley's cell phone mysteriously turned up in a potted plant and the three adults left the house.

* * *

Well, there you have it, the fourth chapter. I can't make any promises on when exactly the next chapter will be up. I kinda lost my zeal for this story. However, after editing this before uploading it, I remembered how fun it is, so I should be getting back into the swing of things soon. I may have to watch the movie this weekend. I also have another story in the works, though not about NT. This one involves Neville Longbottom, who I love. Don't know when that one will be up either.

Reviews may help though...shameless plug


	6. Cicero

Wow, I got this one up really fast.

Anyway, a lot happens in this chapter, but, at the same time, I feel like nothing happens. Eh, I had fun making Riley and Adrian bicker. Sorry if it feels slow.

* * *

"So, did Abigail already go to your dad's house?" Riley asked

"Yes." Ben answered. "She would have said good-by to _you_, but you were asleep." He finished dryly.

Riley scowled. "I wouldn't have been asleep, if Miss Grease Monkey hadn't taken so long"

Adrian scoffed. "Just because I know more about cars than you do, doesn't give you the right to patronize me."

Ben rolled his eyes at the two bickering younger people. It had been this way since they had gotten into his car to drive to the airport. He felt like he was babysitting eight-year olds; Riley and Adrian just knew bigger words.

"You're the one who patronizes me!" Riley cried indignantly.

"Moron."

"Ditz."

"Geek."

That didn't mean they _used_ bigger words.

Ben sighed. "Guys, you've been at this for three hours. Ya think you could give it a rest?"

That shut them up—for the time being. Ben sighed in exasperation and went back to his book on Al Capone. He hadn't been lying. He really didn't know much history later than the Civil War; just what you had to know as a history major.

Riley shifted in his uncomfortable airport seat. Why couldn't airports just buy a bunch of La-Z-Boys? He shifted a bit more and then, wonder of wonders, found a comfortable position. He froze. Maybe if he relaxed, he could go to sleep.

* * *

"Riley!"

Riley snorted awake. "Wha?"

Ben ignored him. "Where's Adrian?"

"Don't know, don't care." Riley droned, attempting to go back to sleep.

"Well, start caring; we're boarding in ten minutes. Go find her."

"Why do I have to find her?" Riley whined.

"Because I said so. Now go!"

Groaning like a teenager asked to clean their room, Riley stood and began to wander the airport aimlessly. Luckily, it didn't take long to find her. She was in a little café looking at books.

He took a moment to take in her appearance. The past day and a half had allowed him to see that she was indeed an attractive woman. He squinted and tilted his head. It was sad really. She looked disdainful and hostile even from behind.

He sauntered over to stand behind her. "Watcha readin' Grease Monkey?"

Riley was given an immense amount of satisfaction when she jumped. She didn't bother turning around to reply, however.

"What do you care?"

"I don't. We're boarding in a few minutes; Ben sent me to find you."

"Congratulations." Adrian said listlessly, not bothering to look up from her book. "You have been victorious in your one sided game of hide-n-seek."

Riley shrugged. "Suit yourself. We're boarding soon. You know where we are."

* * *

Riley was genuinely disappointed when Adrian showed up just in time for boarding. It must have been evident.

"Aww. Are you happy to see me, Skippy?"

"And _how_ many times did I come into the shed this morning, Adrian?"

If looks could kill, Riley was _sure_ he would be dead right now.

"_Flight 251 to Chicago, now boarding…"_

Ben stood up. "That's us, _children_."

Riley and Adrian made it onto the plane without speaking. It didn't last.

"You're in my seat."

"It doesn't matter."

"Um, yes it does, Grease Monkey."

"_God!_ O.C.D. much?"

"_For the love of God!_" Ben said in a low voice. "Just sit somewhere! You're blocking the aisle!"

There was a fairly complicated exchanging of tickets, but Riley, Ben, and Adrian all managed to come to a seating arrangement that satisfied everyone: Riley and Ben sitting beside one another on one side of the plane with Adrian across the small aisle alone.

Riley, sitting by the window, peered around Ben to look at Adrian with an expression that suggested he had just eaten something disgusting. She was looking out the window, legs crossed.

Riley shook his head, then leaned back in his chair. "I still don't know why she had to come along."

"Because," Ben said, leaning back against his own chair, eyes closed, "we found the letter in _her_ car."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"_You_ are just determined not to like her."

"There's nothing to like."

Ben laughed to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Riley gave Ben an odd look then returned to glancing at Adrian every few minutes.

It didn't take long for Adrian to notice.

"I swear the next time you look over at me, I'll gouge your eyes out with this _toothpick_." She threatened, holding up a toothpick a flight attendant had given her.

Ben groaned.

Riley snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"Are your parents siblings?"

"Are yours Satan and his most avid follower?"

"Do you have to _practice _to be such a pest or does it come naturally?"

"What did you eat for breakfast this morning, Carnation Instant Bitch?"

Seeing that Riley had crossed a line, Ben leaned forward so as to block Riley and Adrian's vision of each other. "That's enough. I forbid you to speak to one another for the rest of the flight. Look out your window's both of you."

* * *

Standing at the baggage claim, Riley couldn't find Ben—which left him with Adrian.

"When you were a kid, did you ever want to get on the baggage claim belt and ride a suitcase?"

Adrian looked at him in disbelief. "Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?"

Riley just shrugged.

They stared at the suitcases going round and round the baggage claim for a minute, determinedly not speaking to one another, before they heard their names.

"Riley! Adrian! Get over here!"

Riley and Adrian whirled around to see Ben motioning them to follow him.

Outside, they found Ben shoving their luggage into the trunk of a rental car, which confused them a bit. Why had they been at the baggage claim in the first place? Ben closed the trunk and got in the car. Confusion forgotten, Riley and Adrian fought for the front seat for a moment before Adrian finally punched Riley hard in the arm. He got into the back seat.

He shifted to the middle. "So, Ben, where to?"

"The Lexington. I thought we already established that."

"…right"

When they pulled into the Lexington parking lot they found the old hotel to be closed and security guards were everywhere. A rather portly security guard stopped them and Ben rolled down his window. "What's going on?"

"Oh, there's an event here tonight and they're setting up for it now; if you want inside, tickets are available online. Move along."

Ben rolled his window back up. "Well, he was helpful."

They drove back around to the exit, and Riley looked out the back window. "There's a banner over the front door…it says Swing Dance Bash. Sunday May 25, 2008. 8-Midnight." He turned around. "Great. Now what do we do?"

Adrian's brow furrowed. "We shouldn't have to do anything. Can't it just wait 'till tomorrow?"

Ben shook his head thoughtfully. "No. Your friends probably know about this as well. The best time to get into the room would be tonight during the Bash. We'll have to buy tickets, get clothes—we'll need someplace to change."

"I'll look up hotels right now" Riley announced, getting out his laptop.

"We could always go to my house."

Ben and Riley looked up at her at the same time; one impressed the other angry at being upstaged.

"Yeah," Ben murmured. "I like that plan. Just tell me how to get there." A moment later, he looked in the rearview mirror. "Hey, Riley."

"What?" Riley answered bitterly

"Buy those tickets."

There was a pause.

"Sure, whatever."

* * *

The closer they got to Adrian's house, the more Riley understood why she was the way she was. Her neighborhood scared him. She probably had to be evil incarnate just to stay _alive. _The houses were getting more run-down by the minute, and the yards looked quite dreary. He saw a man about his age, but much bigger, carving something into a tree with a rather large switchblade. It was almost like a shanty town. He noticed Adrian had gotten much quieter.

"Are we almost there?"

She pointed at a gray two story house with a tin roof. "Home, sweet home."

They pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. The sound of laughter emanated from the house. The two men followed Adrian up the steps of her childhood home and waited after she knocked.

A minute later, a woman who could only be Adrian's mother threw the door open. She yelled in delight and pulled Adrian into what appeared to be a bone-breaking hug. They chattered for a moment as mothers and daughters do before Mrs. Cooper even noticed Ben and Riley. "And who are they?"

"They're some friends of mine, Ma." Adrian answered shortly. "We need a place to chill for the night."

Mrs. Cooper gave Adrian such a skeptical look that, for a moment, Riley was sure they'd have to find somewhere else to go.

Suddenly her demeanor changed. "Come on in, boys!" Mrs. Cooper said boisterously, stepping back to allow them inside.

Adrian walked in followed by Riley and Ben. Riley instantly liked the Cooper house better on the inside. It was cramped—only one person could fit through the hallway at once—but he found that to be endearing more than anything else. Besides, the slow pace at which they were forced to walk because of the tight spaces gave him time to look at the pictures that completely covered the walls. The first picture he saw had to have been from Mr. and Mrs. Cooper's wedding day. He found himself becoming slightly envious of Mr. Cooper—Mrs. Cooper was _gorgeous_. She was obviously where Adrian had acquired her prominent nose and almond shaped eyes from, as well as her excessively curly hair. Adrian's face was not quite so angular as her mother's, and on further inspection of the picture, Riley could see that she had received the roundness in her features from her father. There were dozens of pictures of quite a few other children, Adrian's siblings obviously, but he couldn't figure out how many there were exactly—they all looked so much alike.

Suddenly, Riley was totally distracted. A _wonderful_ smell had just captivated his nose. His mouth watered instantly. What was this woman making?!?

Riley was brought out of his thoughts when Mrs. Cooper shouted to no one in particular "Come see who's here kids!" and walked back into the kitchen to her right.

Adrian turned to the left and motioned Riley and Ben into a small living room. "Sit. My brothers and sisters will be here in just a moment."

Sure enough, a dull roar began somewhere upstairs and grew louder and louder. Out of nowhere, children of all ages swarmed the living room all clamoring for a hug from what appeared to be their oldest sister.

Riley was amazed at the difference he saw come over Adrian. Normally, she had a very haughty look about her what with one perpetually raised eyebrow and body language that just screamed "Stay away from me you peons." As he watched Adrian interact with younger siblings that shouted her name, he smirked in bewilderment. She visibly relaxed and smiled the first genuine smile he'd seen on her face since he'd known her. Normally gruff and stand-offish, she became gentle and amiable. Riley found himself intrigued with this side of Adrian and wished she would allow it to surface more often.

Adrian laughed and talked with her brothers and sisters for a minute more before shouting, "All right, _a__ll__ RIGHT!_" She paused before continuing "I have some friends over and I need to introduce you. You know the drill."

Almost immediately, Adrian's siblings, all seven of them, lined up, shoulder to shoulder, across the room. Riley was forcefully reminded of the Von Trapp family.

Adrian indicated that Ben and Riley should stand up again. "All right. This is Riley," she began, pointing, "and Ben." She then pointed to one of her sisters. "From oldest to youngest: Melly—I mean _Carmela_."

The second oldest Cooper daughter held her hand out and Riley shook it. "Pleased to meet you." She said softly.

Riley smiled. She was obviously the beauty of the group, looking around 22. Her nose was not quite so prominent as Adrian's and her face thinner; she looked more like Mrs. Cooper, Riley decided.

Next, Adrian indicated the oldest boy present. He, like Carmela, had an angular face, but it also had a hint of Mr. Cooper's roundness, like Adrian's. He was fairly tall and had a brooding look about him which mimicked his oldest sister's haughtiness. Speaking of… "This is Dante." Adrian said as he stepped forward and shook Riley's hand—a little too tightly for Riley's taste. He made a mental note not to be alone with Dante—ever.

Adrian next motioned to a boy who obviously favored Mr. Cooper. From the picture Riley had seen, he was a carbon copy. "This is Leonardo." Adrian informed.

"Leo." The kid said, shaking Riley's hand enthusiastically. He guessed Leo was about 15 or so, which was quite a bit younger than his older brother, who looked about 18.

"This is Taddeo." Adrian said, giving a small smile to a very shy looking boy of about 14 who almost looked more like his mother than Carmela did.

He lifted his curly head and gave Riley and Ben a timid wave. "Tad."

Adrian rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything to Tad. Instead, she continued with the introductions by motioning to a girl of about twelve with the same round face as her brother Leo. "That's Natale."

She thrust her hand out eagerly. "Call me Nat."

Adrian then walked over to her two fidgeting youngest siblings. "And these are the twins, Irene and Isaia." Upon hearing their names, the two children glanced at each other, smiled, and ran off. The rest of the Cooper children quickly followed suit leaving Ben and Riley alone in the small living room with Adrian. There was a bit of an awkward pause in which Adrian simply stared after her brothers and sisters, hands on her hips.

Ben checked his watch. "Well, it's a little after 4:00 and the charity event starts at what, 8:00?"

"Yup." Riley confirmed.

"Well," Ben started, clapping his hands together. "We need to get going. Is there a place we can rent tuxes around here?"

Adrian turned around, brow furrowed. "Yeah, but what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Am I going to wait in the getaway car, or something?"

"No…" Ben answered slowly. "You'll be coming in with us."

"Won't I have to get a dress?"

Riley snorted. "Why? Have you never seen a dress before?"

Adrian sneered at him. "Y'know, I've come across rotting _bodies_ that were less offensive that you."

Before Riley could even form a retort, Adrian let out a growl and ran upstairs, grumbling something about not being able to just _rent_ a dress.

Ben rounded on Riley "Will you quit it?!?"

Riley shrugged innocently. "Quit what?"

Ben wasn't buying it. "You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. Now quit it!" He paused for a moment, turning back to glance up the stairs. "Why do you hate her, anyway?"

Riley blinked. "I don't hate her."

Ben shot him a dubious look.

"Not yet, anyway." Riley continued. "At the moment, she just annoys me to no end."

"You're no walk in the park yourself, y'know." Adrian said crisply, walking back into the living room carrying a big bag. She held it up, showing it to Ben. "Will this work?"

Ben peered at the bag, which contained a dress. "I guess so. Where'd you get it?"

"It was Carmela's prom dress."

Ben nodded then turned to Riley. "Well, we've got to go get tuxes now if we're going to eat here at…?" he trailed off, looking at Adrian.

"6:00" she supplied, answering his question.

* * *

At 6:00, Riley and Ben were led into the family dining room. It was here that he experienced the fullness of the Cooper family. He had to admit, he thoroughly enjoyed it—being an only child and all. There was so much lauging and talking that Riley again gained an insight to Adrian's character. This must be why she was so quiet. He also calculated that, as the twins were 10, Adrian had probably been babysitting her whole life. He wouldn't be surprised if the job she had now was helping to support her large family. No wonder she was so pissy all the time.

Over the course of the meal, Riley mourned the fact that he had not been born an Italian. He verbally proclaimed his love for Mrs. Cooper's stuffed ravioli smothered in alfredo sauce, fried bread, and homemade gelato to such a degree that Ben actually hit him in the head—much to the Cooper children's delight.

Long about 7:00, Riley, Ben and Adrian scattered in different directions to get ready to leave. Riley changed fairly quickly, and so was the first to arrive in the living room. He looked in a small mirror while fixing his tie and grimaced. It was bad enough they were on the run from crazy mafia people, but _now_ he had to wear a tux—without his precious converses. His feet were already screaming in protest.

He gave himself a once-over, unable to keep the disgruntled look off his face.

"You look about as enthused as I feel," Said an increasingly familiar voice.

"Yeah, well…" he began turning to face the voice—only to find he couldn't move.

He was stunned.

There stood Adrian in her sister's strapless dark red prom dress, a color that complimented her olive skin wonderfully. It was very tight—obviously meant for a smaller person—and showed off an extremely little waist Riley hadn't known _existed_. The showcasing of her small waist, coupled with the fact that the dress had been tailored to fit a slighter build made her already eye-catching bosom _captivating_. He didn't know what she had done to her hair, but it looked fantastic all pulled back and—

"Earth to Riley."

Riley blinked. "Yes?"

Adrian cocked a newly manicured eyebrow. "You zoned out there for a sec."

Riley's heart sped up. "Well—I—I just—never noticed how pretty you are." He choked out, scrunching up his face immediately after the fact. How dorky could he be?

Both Adrian's eyebrows shot up this time. "Is that so? Well, I gotta say, you clean up right nice yourself." She smirked and headed towards the mirror Riley had been preening in front of moments before.

As she neared, Riley noticed she had done something to her eyes to make them look a brilliant shade of green. He squinted.

Make-up was witchcraft.

He moved away from the mirror and she took his place, applying lipstick.

It was then that Riley saw the _back_ of the dress—or rather, lack-thereof. The only thing keeping the dress secure was a delicate satin ribbon that laced all down her tanned back to a dangerously low point. Riley was quite certain he would get quite a peep show if the dress were cut only an inch or so lower.

He blinked and wrenched his gaze towards the hallway to see Ben walk into view, adjusting a cufflink. "You guys ready?"

Riley nodded as Adrian quipped, "Ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

Adrian glanced once again in the rear view mirror. _'__Dammit__!'_ she thought to herself. She had to stop looking back there. Riley would never let her live it down if he caught her. She couldn't help herself, though! She hadn't been lying when she'd told Riley he looked good. He did. He looked surprisingly good. If she was truthful with herself, she knew he wasn't the most attractive man she'd ever seen –but he was definitely more appealing than she'd originally given him credit for. Her eyes flicked up to the mirror and back to her hands again and grimaced. If he wasn't the most infuriating being on the planet, she might have found him attractive enough to pursue.

He did have pretty eyes, though.

Turninging into the parking lot of the Lexington, for the second time that day, Ben smirked. The two _middle-__schoolers_ he'd felt like he'd been babysitting all day were bashfully avoiding one another's gaze like they were twelve—which completed the middle-school analogy nicely. At one point along their drive, they had actually met one another's gaze. The hilarity that Ben found in the redness of their faces was almost too much for him to control himself. Luckily, he kept his laughter on the inside.

He had to admit, Adrian looked stunning in her sister's dress, but she also looked a tad bit uncomfortable—the tightness of the dress prohibited her from slouching even a tiny bit. He could understand Riley's attraction, but he couldn't understand Adrian's. To him, Riley just looked like a nerd in a tux mourning the loss of his shoes.

Ah, well. You can't control love—or the beginnings of it anyway.

He pulled into a parking spot. "All right, guys." He said, turning off the car. "You two are just going to act like normal party goers till I find out what room we need to search."

This was met by protests from both of his counter parts.

"Ah!" He yelled over the din then pointed at Riley. "_You_ are about as subtle as a train wreck and _you_" he shifted to point at Adrian, "need to keep an eye on him." Having given his reasons, Ben got out of the car, leaving two very pissed off twenty-something's slack-jawed.

Grumbling, they got out of the car. They were so disgruntled that neither took notice when Riley helped Adrian out of the car and they didn't speak to one another all the way across the parking lot. They entered the former hotel and found Ben waiting. Once the doorman had taken their tickets, they were led into what looked to be a ball room.

It was _swarming_ with well-to-do people in their finest outfits.

Not two seconds after they walked in, a fairly good sized band began to play "In the Mood."

Riley leaned in towards Ben. "So…what, do I just need to wait by the bar? Get something shaken, not stirred?"

"You need to go find your 'date'."

Riley whipped around to give Ben a sound telling-off, only to find him halfway across the room. He looked back to his left and saw Adrian had disappeared. "Adrian?" He began pushing through the crowd looking for the fiery Italian. Cursing his short stature, he gave a little hop and spotted what he'd been looking for almost immediately: A huge mane of black hair. He smiled.

Adrian was on the edge of the dance floor arms crossed, tapping her foot. After they got what they needed, she was going to give Ben a piece of her mind. He had put her on _babysitting duty_! She winced after she tried to take in a large breath. She shouldn't have worn Carmela's dress.

"Hey."

She jumped then swatted Riley's hand away from her arm. "Geeze! You tryin' to give me a heart-attack?"

Riley grinned. "Glad to see you too, Sunshine."

Adrian scowled. "Just because you can't get someone to dance with you doesn't mean you can bother _me._"

Riley straightened up. "Hey. I could get someone to dance with me if I wanted to. Ben just told me we had to stick together."

"No he didn't."

Riley paused. "Ok, ya got me. But we really do need to stick together."

Adrian was silent for a moment. Then she turned towards Riley with an evil smile. "You can't dance, can you?"

Riley scoffed. "Oh. _I_ can dance."

"I don't believe you. You've probably never had a dance in your life, you're such a geek."

Riley glowered at her. "You know what?" He started angrily, but never finished his thought. Instead, he grabbed her arm and began to walk on the dance floor.

As one would expect, Adrian resisted, eyes wide. "What are you doing?!?"

Riley gave one last tug, pulling her close. "Dancing," He answered simply.

There was a brief pause in which all Adrian could think about was Riley's rough hand on the bare skin of her back.

Suddenly, a quick drum beat and blaring trumpets signaled the beginning of "Sing, Sing, Sing."

They were off.

Adrian was too shocked to think properly. Riley kept her spinning, moving her feet, and concentrating where she would be the next second that she was panting for breath in no time—or was that because her dress was too small?

About a third of the way through the song, Riley announced "I'm gonna flip you."

"_What?!?_" Adrian's world tilted, the ground flew up to meet her and she was back on her feet before she could properly protest. In fact, she was rendered speechless, and was inwardly thankful that Riley gave her time to recover by sticking to less outrageous moves for a moment.

When the drum break began, Riley spoke, "Told ya I could dance." He said with a smirk.

Adrian grinned, rolling her eyes. "Who knew?" They fell silent again before Adrian asked, "Where'd you learn to dance like that?"

"My mom. Be prepared to go to the ground."

"_What_?"

"Just go when I say." He did something fancy with their arms then said "Go."

Adrian let herself drop to the ground, Riley's astonishingly strong grip preventing her from hurting herself. She landed on her butt, felt herself be spun around, and was pleasantly surprised when she was gently pulled back to her feet. She smiled brightly. "That was fun!"

Riley smirked back at her then caught sight of something over her shoulder. He stopped dancing and Adrian looked over her shoulder as well. "What?"

Riley pointed. "Ben's got something." With that, he took off across the dance floor, not letting go of Adrian's hand. They came to an abrupt halt in front of Ben. "Where to?" Riley asked.

"343," Ben answered quickly and sped off.

Riley and Adrian followed.

They snuck around and ran up employee stairwells till they hit the third floor. Adrian cursed her almost-3-inch-heels as Riley and Ben jogged down the hallway. Luckily, they stopped at a door not too far down the hallway.

Muttering, Adrian bent down and yanked off her shoes. Free of their confines, her feet were much happier and allowed her to jog over to the two arguing men.

"That's just great, Ben. What are we supposed to do _now_?"

"What's going on?" Adrian panted.

"I didn't get a room key. Though I fail to see _exactly_ how I should have gone about getting one."

Adrian rolled her eyes. "Is that all?"

Both men forgot their anger instantaneously and looked at Adrian in bewilderment.

"Beg--beg y'pardon?" Riley asked.

Adrian didn't answer. Instead, she was digging around in her massive hair-do. After a minute, she pulled out a bobby pin and knelt down in front of the old fashioned hotel lock. "When you have as many brothers and sisters as I do, you learn to pick locks," she explained as she began to pick the lock.

Ben smiled, while Riley simply stared.

After a few tense moments, the door swung open. Adrian stood up, returning the bobby pin to its rightful place. "I don't know what you two would do without me," she commented dryly.

Chuckling slightly, Ben pointed to her. "Thank you," he said and walked into the room.

Riley gave Adrian a wary look. "Should I start hiding all my stuff?"

Adrian rolled her eyes. "Relax. You don't have anything worth stealing," she commented snidely, and followed Ben into the room.

The room was fairly large; obviously a suite. It had a king size bed to the right of the door situated over a large rug with some kind of design on it. The rest of the floor was hard wood and remarkably beautiful. There was a TV cabinet on the left wall across from the bed, evidence of the hotel's movement into the modern. On the opposite wall, directly across from the door was an old Grandfather clock that was basking in the glow of the light coming from the bathroom, which was in the far left corner.

Ben walked out of said bathroom. "Well, everything looks normal. Guess we'll have to check the letter." He fished it out and read it to himself. "It says there's a map," he muttered eventually. "I don't see any map, do you?"

Riley and Adrian glanced around, shaking their heads.

"Hmm," Ben mused, sitting down on the desk chair. Seeing this, Adrian leaned up against the wall and Riley sat down on the bed.

He cradled his head in his hands, staring at the rug beneath his feet. He followed the thick line of the design that was on the rug. He squinted. It looked an awful lot like Flor—

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"I think the rug is the map."

Brow furrowed, Ben stood up and moved to stand beside Riley. His eyes widened and he flopped to the ground, pulling a small flashlight out of his coat pocket.

Riley jumped up to give him room and Adrian came to stand beside him.

Ben peered underneath the bed for a moment. "Well, Riley, you were right. The rug is the map and it looks like…" he trailed off, staring intensely at the rug.

"What? Where do we need to go?" Riley asked eagerly.

"Don't pee on the rug, Skippy," Adrian dead-panned.

Riley glowered at her, but was didn't have time to create a jibe of his own as Ben called out "Johnson City!"

Adrian and Riley watched Ben rise in complete confusion. "What?" they asked together.

Ben brushed himself off. "We have to go to Johnson City, Tennessee—Montrose Court probably. It makes perfect sense. Capone used Johnson City as his halfway point between Chicago and Miami during the 20s. It was called "Little Chicago" in his day."

Riley and Adrian wore identical expressions of disbelief.

"You mean we have to go to hick-ville?" Adrian finally shot out.

"Yes." Ben answered simply then consulted the letter again. "All right, it also says further instructions are behind "dear old Ben." I wonder where—of course." Ben interrupted himself and climbed on the bed.

Riley and Adrian followed his line of movement to a painting of Benjamin Franklin hanging above the head board. They watched on tenterhooks as Ben slowly lifted the painting off the wall. It was rather anticlimactic, though, because there was nothing in the wall. No safe, no hidden indentation, no _nothing_. Then—

"Ben, the back! Look on the back!" Riley shouted, pointing frantically.

Caught off guard, Ben laid the painting down on its face. Sure enough, there was an envelope, yellow and brittle with age, fastened to the back. He gingerly removed it and extracted the note, unfolding it. He read it to himself then looked up, smiling. "I was right. We need to go to Montrose Court in Johnson City, Tennessee."

Riley nodded. "Right…where is that?"

Ben folded the letter back again. "It was an apartment building in Capone's day. I don't know what it is now."

"Ah…" Riley acknowledged. "How'd you know that?"

"I read a book," Ben replied.

Riley rolled his eyes upward in an 'I should have known' gesture.

Adrian groaned. "Well, we'd better get going if we're going to get to hick-ville and back any time this century," she said listlessly and made her way to the door, closely followed by Riley.

Before she could touch the door handle, the door was kicked in and she found herself to be staring down the barrel of a gun.

" 'Sup, Adrian?"

* * *

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!! CLIFFIE!!!

Yeah, I don't do that very often, and I'm sorry. Regardless, I'm glad to see that you made it this far. This was kind of long, but I feel like nothing happened. I'm sorry about the rather boring introduction of Adrian's family. I just wanted to give her character a little more depth--not bore you to death.

I have some pictures that I've drawn and I think I'll put them in my scraps on my Deviant Art account. You can get there via the "homepage" link on my account here. I already have pictures of Riley up, but am not quite sure if they actually look like him. If you have a DA account, I would very much appreciate your opinion. As for the story, the only pictures worth putting up are the ones I've drawn of Adrian in her red dress as well as a whole family character sheet. I think...

Anyway, straight to business. I had like five people add this story to their favorites, which is nice, but I don't know what you like about the story. It's rather frustrating. Am I still writing Ben, and more importantly, Riley correctly? Is Adrian a Mary Sue? Cause I'm trying my hardest to save her from that horrible fate. I'm obviously not boring the 10 people that read this story, cause you keep adding me and my story to your fave list! AARGH!

Ok, I'm done ranting now. You can all make me feel better by reviewing...yes.


	7. That explains a lot

Well, guys, I decided to just go ahead and upload this blasted chapter. Confused, you say? This one fought me all the way. Technically, I had it done before NT2 came out, but I was really unhappy with it. I think it's cause I wrote it in segments and had to fill in the gaps. Anyway, sorry it's crap.

* * *

Adrian gasped.

"Surprised to see me?" sneered the gun wielding Italian mobster. He didn't wait for a reply but barged into the room followed by four menacing thugs.

In response, Riley and Adrian stumbled over each other to stand by the bed—Ben had not moved from the desk and was looking murderous.

"What are you doing here, Tony?" Adrian shot out.

Riley's head whipped around. "Wait, you _know_ these guys?" he asked angrily

"They're the guys from the _car show_." She shot back. "And _that_ one," she pointed at a slightly rotund uncomfortable looking Italian, "is my cousin! Why are you even here, Robbie? What did I ever do to you?"

"What did you do? What did you DO?!?" The leader yelled, sounding slightly insane. "You and your family kept my money from me!"

Adrian rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we've already discussed this, Tony. You're crazy. _I don't have your money._" She said with crossed arms.

Incensed, Tony made a move for Adrian, gun pointed at her face.

Riley and Tony's gang reacted immediately: Riley pulled Adrian out of the line of fire and Tony's goons stepped in front of him, telling him to cool it. Tony appeared to have quick recovery time, for he un-cocked his gun and shook his pals off his arms. "I'm cool. I'm COOL."

There was a tense moment in which Adrian and Tony shared murderous gazes.

Seeing Tony was incapacitated for the moment, one of his cronies stepped forward. "That was pretty bold. We could use a gal like you." He paused to grin in what he apparently thought was a wining manner; Riley noticed Robbie roll his eyes. The short lackey continued, "C'mon, why don't you ditch these guys and come with us? We'll explain everything—you can even have some of the money." He waited for a moment, then added "If you come now, we'll leave your little friends alone."

Adrian crossed her arms again, looking very skeptical. Riley couldn't help admiring her bravery in the face of these nut-jobs.

She smirked. "Let's not kid ourselves. You just want me to come so you can get your rocks off."

Riley's eyes widened and he struggled not to laugh.

"Now that you mention it," said the short, stocky Italian, moving close to Adrian and stroking her cheek. "You and I should—

He was cut off with a slap. "_Get off me!_" Adrian shouted over the raucous laughter of their other captors.

Humiliated and angry, the would be seducer snarled and pulled out his gun. The "click" that usually accompanied the cocking of a gun silenced everyone. "You little _bitch_." He said in a low, deadly voice.

The following seconds seemed to take place over the course of a few years. Looking back, Riley would be surprised at his own reflexes.

Everyone watched in horror as stumpy squeezed the trigger.

Adrian clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable pain that was about to blast through her body. She was surprised, therefore, when she felt two hands roughly push her to the floor. For his part, Riley was surprised he had been so quick.

He screamed in pain.

He hadn't been quick enough.

The bullet ripped through the top of his forearm and he quickly yanked it back to his side.

"_Riley!_" Ben yelled in concern.

With Ben's outburst, time went back to normal. The rest of the captors took hold of their hot-headed friend and forced the gun from his hand while Ben jumped over the bed to aid Riley. Adrian shakily stood up and stared into space.

"Adrian."

Ben's authoritative voice brought her back to reality with a start. She stared at him silently with wild eyes.

"Go get a towel." Ben ordered.

Adrian blinked, then mechanically made her way to the bathroom. She was surprised that she was allowed to go into the bathroom and back without any trouble from Tony or his gang. She supposed it was because they were still trying to subdue the man that had tried to kill her.

Oh God.

Riley had just saved her life.

She handed Ben the towel, then sat down on the bed.

Riley gritted his teeth in pain. Holy. Shit. He was _never_ getting shot _again_. Although, considering the amount of times he'd had a gun pointed at his head, he was surprised it had taken this long for a bullet to actually cause some damage. He still hadn't opened his eyes, which meant he didn't know how bad his injury was. "Ben, how bad is it?" he asked in a constricted voice.

"Not as bad as it could have been. You were lucky." Ben replied, ripping something up. "It really just grazed your arm, though it did leave a pretty good gash and burned some skin."

Hearing this, Riley decided he could probably look at his mutilated arm. As soon as he opened his eyes, he squeezed them shut again, tighter than before. There was about a three inch long gash on the top of his right arm running almost perfectly perpendicular. It was about an inch wide and half an inch thick—it would leave a pretty bad scar after it healed. There was blood all over his hand and arm, which also happened to be blistered.

He sucked breath through his teeth in pain as he felt Ben wrap the shreds of the towel he'd been holding around his arm. Once he felt it was safe to look, he opened his eyes again. His wound was being bound quite nicely, but was quickly bleeding through the strips of towel.

Riley noticed how quiet it was in the room. He lifted his head up slightly and saw Adrian. She looked terrible. Her make-up was running, her hair was messed up, and her dress was wrinkled. He grimaced when he realized her face had that same numb expression she'd had when these psychopaths had broken into Ben's house.

Speaking of psychos—he lifted his head up all the way and saw all the mafia members present were staring at him—the trigger happy time bomb had left the room.

This eye contact appeared to have been all they were waiting for.

"All right," Tony began. "I've had enough games. It's time to get what we came for. Sit."

"We'd rather stand." Ben said menacingly.

Tony pointed his gun at them. "_Sit_."

They sat.

"Now," Tony started, sounding like a teacher about to give a lecture. "Adrian, you wanted to know what you had done. Let me tell you a little story. You've all heard of Al Capone. Well, in 1924 his little brother died. He shut down all is operations for a whole day, and it was during that day that he decided to prepare for his own death. He had his money hidden and thought up some directions to get his son there." He glanced at Adrian. "Here's where it gets interesting. Al gave his first direction, a letter, to one of his other brothers."

Adrian gasped. "Poppa Bert!" she said breathlessly.

Tony laughed cruelly. "Figured it out? Yeah, your great grandpa was Umberto Capone."

Riley piped up. "How did you not know this?"

Adrian rounded on him. "People change their names, y'know!"

Riley went silent again.

Trembling with anger, Tony spoke hurriedly. "Yeah, my great-grandpa gave your great-grandpa the key to my inheritance and the snake kept it! Just to spite his brother! I want what's owed me!"

Ben stood up and began speaking in his trademark clam manner. "Now, just calm down. Both of your great-grandfathers lost a brother that day. Maybe Umberto just forgot about the letter."

"NO!" Tony screamed, now crazed. "Bert was a rat bastard who couldn't stand the thought of not gettin' any of his brother's money! He took the letter, and he hid it! You people are gonna help me find it, or I'll make sure you all rot in hell!"

A ringing silence fell during which Ben and Adrian shared a grim look while Riley merely looked horrified. They had all just realized the same thing: they were in _way_ over their head.

"All o' you stand up!" Tony shouted waving his gun around. When the three treasure hunters were on their feet, Tony turned to his lackeys. "Surround 'em. We're takin' 'em to the car." With that, he left the hotel room which was then full of very shell-shocked people. The Italians followed their leader into the hall for a brief moment.

"_What are we __gonna__ do?!?_" hissed Riley frantically.

"When I say, we're all going to run in different directions and meet at the car." Ben replied in a low voice.

"_What_?" Adrian countered. "_That's_ your get-away plan?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "You got any better ideas?" At Adrian's sheepish expression, Ben added "I didn't think so."

The door opened. "Get out here," Instructed a gravelly voice.

Ben walked outside, followed closely by Riley and Adrian. They were quickly surrounded by a whole lot of guns. Riley gulped audibly.

The three anxious friends were escorted out the same way they had come in by the rather unsavory crew. They would send a scout ahead to every corner to check for civilians and the guns stayed out at all times; it was like an evil form of Mission Impossible.

Riley was just beginning to suspect Ben had forgotten all about their escape plan when—

"NOW!" Ben's voice rang out in the empty hallway.

Adrian, Riley, and Ben took off in three different directions.

Their captors yelled in anger and surprise as they raised their weapons.

Riley thanked his lucky stars they were horrible shots. When a couple of bullets zinged past his head while he rounded a corner, however, he glanced upward in annoyance. "Too close." He muttered to the powers that be.

He bolted into an elevator and pushed the first floor button. Ben had said to get to the car and, unlike little miss snarky britches, he had no problem with that plan. The sooner they got out of there the better. He leaned against the wall of the elevator and rested his hand on his heart, willing it to slow. The elevator dinged and his adrenaline began pumping anew. After the door opened, he stuck his head out cautiously, looking left and right. When he saw no murderous Italians, he took off towards the nearest exit.

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. He whirled around and saw Adrian barreling towards him. "Run, Riley! Go!"

He briefly wondered just how she was managing to run in all her get up before turning and running for all he was worth. They were closer to the ballroom now, and Riley could faintly hear shouting. The gunshots had been heard.

Thank God.

Suddenly, Adrian caught up with him, grabbed his hand, and rapidly began to outstrip him. He pushed a bit harder to keep up and in no time they burst outside. They looked around for a moment, then began running again. They zipped around a corner and paused to take a breather.

"Do you remember where Ben parked the car?" Riley wheezed, feeling like the asthmatic kid he'd been in middle-school.

Adrian panted, truly suffering in her too tight dress, and clutched a stitch in her side. She gazed out at the parking lot, then pointed excitedly. "There! I see it!"

Riley nodded and glanced around the corner. He didn't see any gun wielding crazy people. "All right, on three. One, Two—

"I can't, Riley! My dress," Adrian forced out. "It's too tight."

Riley looked at her in horror. She wasn't kidding: every breath she took was an obvious struggle, and her chest was heaving in an unhealthy manner. "But—but we have to get to the car."

Adrian rolled her eyes. "Well, either you _carry_ me," she spat out venomously, "or find us a place to _hide_ till I can _breathe_ again!"

Riley's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "There's no need to get snappy." He turned his back to her. "Hop on."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well, I can't very well carry you bridal style with a mangled arm can I?" he shot back, waving his bandaged arm in her face. "Now get on, we're sitting ducks out here."

Adrian sighed, then, after multiple tries, climbed onto Riley's back. Once she was secure, Riley took off at a brisk jog. "Watch out for those psychos, would ya?" he whispered.

Adrian nodded, then slumped forward eerily, causing Riley to stop in his tracks full of dread.

Fearing she had passed out from lack of oxygen, Riley stopped. "Adrian?"

"Sleeping Beauty's not gonna answer you, Prince Charming." Replied a thick voice.

Riley's breath caught in his throat. Slowly, he turned around. It was one of Tony's goons.

"Y'know technically, if she's Sleeping Beauty, I'd be Prince _Phillip_." He quipped nervously.

It was the last thing he said before his world went black.

* * *

Ben stood at the car waiting nervously. Where were Riley and Adrian? Had the mafia gotten hold of them? Were the alive? He didn't think he could live with himself if Riley had gotten seriously injured.

He didn't even want to _think_ about having to tell the Cooper family about Adrian.

They were fine. He was sure of it. They _had_ to be.

"Gates."

Ben whirled around to see Tony approaching him. He whipped his cell phone out. "If you come any closer, I'll call the FBI. They're friends of mine." He finished lamely.

Tony laughed. "You don't wanna do that, dude."

Ben looked at him, confused. "I think I do."

Tony smirked. "If you do, I'll have my boys shoot your friends."

Ben blinked, becoming less confused and more uneasy by the moment.

Tony nodded to someone over Ben's shoulder.

Ben turned around to see a black SUV pulling a small U-haul behind it. It came to a stop behind Tony and one of his thugs got out and opened the back of the U-haul. There lay Riley and Adrian, unconscious, on a bed of flat, uncomfortable looking pillows.

Ben sighed and dropped his phone to his side.

Tony's smirk became even more smug. "I'll tell you how this is gonna go down. You're gonna tell me where the next clue is and then run along home like a good little boy."

"And if I don't?"

Tony shrugged. "Hey, if you wanna see your friends' brains splattered all over the asphault, be my guest."

Ben was silent for a moment, furiously trying to find another course of action. As far as he could tell, there wasn't one. "Johnson City. You need to go to Montrose Court in Johnson City, Tennessee."

"Much obliged," Tony quipped, thinking. After a minute or so, he spoke again. "Now, you get back in your car and go home to your wife and little girl. We're gonna go on down to Little Chicago to get my money. If you follow, I'll kill 'em. If you call the cops, I'll kill 'em. If you call the _FBI_, I'll torture 'em, _then_ I'll kill 'em."

Ben growled in anger.

"After I've got my money, I'll let 'em go and you can come get them." He opened a passenger door of the SUV. "Ciao." He said smarmily and got in.

As he watched the U-haul that contained Riley and Adrian roll away, Ben sighed. He shook his head and kicked the ground angrily. He then took another deep breath and got in his own car. Quickly making a decision, he dialed Abigail's cell.

"Hello?"

"Abigail, it's me."

"Hey, what've you got so far?"

"Trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Yeah, the mafia caught up with us in Cicero and now they have Riley and Adrian."

"Oh, no."

"Exactly. The next clue led us to an old apartment complex called Montrose Court in Johnson City, Tennessee. That's where they're headed now. I need you to call Sadusky and tell him about the situation."

"All right, what else do you need me to tell him?"

"Tell him to be discreet. If Tony and his thugs see FBI agents or myself, Adrian and Riley are as good as dead."

Abigail sighed, obviously writing things down. "Who's Tony?"

"Tony Yale. He's Al Capone's great-grandson and Adrian's long lost second cousin. He's nuts. Have Sadusky look him up."

"Ok. Where are _you_ going?"

"I'm going to catch a plane to Nashville, then jet over to Johnson City. I'll probably beat them; I have a feeling they'll be driving the whole way."

"So that gives us at least one whole day, doesn't it?"

Assuming they drive through the night, yes. We may have more."

"Be careful." Abigail pleaded.

"I will."


End file.
